"The Invisible Crime in 1999"
by: Honey Grace Tolentino
October 16, 2021
Everyone was busy roaming around our house. They were all here for Yvette’s birthday. I smiled as I watched her walk down the staircase. Her velvet red dress flowed while she was walking, making her look as if she was stepping above the clouds. Her friends were here, greeting her with bright smiles on their lips. “Happy birthday, Yvette!” They all cheered. Raising their hands together while hugging her.
A hand encircled my arms, making me look to my side. “Hi,” I said. “Hi, there,” Marie replied. “She grows up too fast,” Dan said. We both looked at him and there, our other friends were standing with him. Looking at Yvette from a far. “Mm… Yvette… she’s starting to look like her,” I answered.
The five of us stayed silent. Yvette was more important than anything else for us. “I heard you’re finally engaged?” Mavie asked. I glanced at him before showing my hand where the engagement ring was placed. “Yes. Yes I am. He accepted Yvette too. Wholeheartedly.” My fiancé and her get along very well. “That’s nice. At least Yvette will have a father figure now,” Krisha smiled.
It was also this day that she departed from us. We hoped that she was finally at peace. “Mom?” Yvette called out. I smiled at her and hugged her. “Happy birthday, our dearest Yvette,” I greeted. My friends did the same. They earned a lovely smile from the birthday girl. “Uhm...mom?”
“Yes? What is it? Do you need anything?” Yvette looked at us and showed us what she was holding. It was her locket. A golden oval shaped locket made with intricate designs. “Is this yours? I found it inside my box when I was looking for my photo album,” Yvette asked, handing me the locket.
I stared at it for a long time. If Marie didn’t tap my shoulder I would’ve stayed silent. “Oh this...yes. This is mine. In fact, this locket belongs to us,” I answered. My friends nodded with my reply. Yvette brought back her bright smile. “Oh, I see. I thought it was grandmother’s.”
“Why? Do you want it?” I asked. Yvette immediately shook her head. “If you want it, you can have it. Here.” I placed the locket in her hand, but she carefully gave it back. “No, Mom. It’s yours.” We all looked at each other. “Then that can be our gift for you,” Dan said.
“Really?” Dan nodded as a response. I gave it to her again. This time, she took it and looked at it closely. She caressed the locket’s design. “Can I open it?” She asked. “Of course,” Mavie answered. Yvette opened the locket. She gasped. “It's your picture. All of you.” Yvette smiled, looking at our faces in that picture one by one.
She frowned when her eyes settled on someone. “Who is she?” She asked. We all know whom she was talking about. “Our friend. She’s our friend.” Yvette nodded at the answer she got. “Where is she now?” She asked one more time.
I felt Marie’s hand tighten around my arm. The smile on our faces faded. It was obvious for Yvette that she asked the wrong question, but instead of dismissing her, I managed to give her a small smile and an answer. “She’s somewhere far away. Far enough that we wouldn't be able to talk to her nor send her a message,” I said. Krisha went to my left, hugging me. “She’s dead.”
October 13, 1999
“Hey, she’s calling,” Mavie informed us. “Who?” I asked. “Yvonne.” Mavie showed us his phone. The caller ID popped up, but before he could even answer her call, she already hung up. “Let her be,” I said, rolling my eyes. Mavie, Krisha, and I continued doing our project for this semester.
The door suddenly burst open. Dan and Marie entered the room. “Yvonne called. Do you know why?” Marie asked as she was sitting down on an empty chair. I shook my head while Mavie just shrugged. Krisha didn’t answer. “Call her. Ask her what she wants,” Dan said as his brows furrowed even more. Marie took out her phone and dialed Yvonne’s number. It took her three rings to finally answer the call. “Hey, Yvonne?”
“Marie, I–I have a problem.” Marie looked at us. Dan nodded his head and she got it immediately. She pressed the loudspeaker button. “What is it?” Marie asked. “Uhmm...are–are you busy?” We heard Yvonne ask. “No. No, I’m not,” Marie replied. “Oh...well… I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Uhmm...I’ve been feeling down lately so–”
“Come on, Yvonne. Don’t tell us you feel tired? We’re also feeling tired but you heard no complaint from us,” Dan suddenly interrupted. Marie widened her eyes at him, warning him not to say anything anymore. “Y-you’re with them?” Yvonne nervously asked. “Well, yeah. We’re doing this project for our drafting subject,” Marie answered.
“I see. Never mind then. Good luck.” That’s all Yvonne said before ending the call.
October 14, 1999
“Yvonne!” Marie shouted. Seeking for Yvonne’s attention. There was no response though. She continued walking as if no one called her. “Oh...maybe she got mad at us?” Marie said, guilt all over her face. “Tsk, just let her be, will you?” Krisha held Marie’s shoulder and looked at Yvonne with disdain. “Let’s go. We’ll be late. We can talk to her after class. Maybe she was just chasing the time,” Mavie assured.
“You guys go first. I forgot something.” Dan and the others nodded their heads. I walked past them and turned to the right. I roamed around to look for Yvonne. My eyes caught her walking with her mother and in hopes to at least talk to her for a bit, I followed them outside our main building. My feet stopped when I heard Yvonne’s voice. “Ma, like I said, I was finishing a meeting–”
“A Goddamn useless excuse! Was that more important than your sister? You forgot to fetch her from school yesterday, Yvonne! What would that meeting even give you? Would that give you a damn award? A medal? Or even a certificate? No, right? Your sister was supposed to attend her cram school yesterday but thanks to someone she was late and the teacher didn’t let her attend because of that!” her mother scolded. Yvonne couldn’t do anything but to lower her head.
I turned around. That’s her own problem. She needed privacy.
October 15, 1999
“Guys!” I looked at the door of our room when Yvonne’s voice echoed. She was wearing that necklace. That golden locket necklace she got after we all passed our entrance exams. I wonder what she put in there? “Yvonne!” Marie and Mavie simultaneously said, waving their hands at her. Krisha sighed and smiled. I did the same, greeting her. “We haven’t talked in a while, right? Damn this busy schedule,” I laughed. Yvonne laughed at my joke and so did the others. “Guys come on. Let’s eat our lunch already. I might see the numbers and formulas floating in the air if we stand here even longer,” Dan joked.
We all went to the canteen and ate our lunch. “I feel exhausted!” Mavie whined. We looked at him and laughed. “Come on, dude. It’s not just you,” Krisha said, tapping his back while laughing. I glanced at Yvonne and saw her smiling. Just smiling. “You should go out sometimes, you know? Refresh yourselves,” Yvonne finally said.
“Easier said than done, Yvonne,” Dan responded with a sigh. “You guys must be very tired. Let’s hurry up so you can rest.” We all agreed with her. But Dan just had to open his mouth and say some nonsense. “Good thing you have a lot of free time to rest,” he sarcastically said. Dan never got along with Yvonne from the very beginning. We didn’t know why.
I was just about to say something back at him but Yvonne spoke. “One day you’ll die, leaving this world. So...live a life that you will remember for the rest of your life,” Yvonne responded. We remained silent. She stood up and left. I caught a glimpse beneath the sleeve of her blouse. A bruise. A dark black and purple bruise on both of her wrists.
October 16, 1999
My phone kept on ringing over and over again. I answered the phone and checked the time. Three o’clock in the morning. “What the hell?” I opened my eyes when I heard Dan’s voice. “What’s going on?” Mavie asked who was visibly confused. “Yvonne is hosting this video call.” I looked at the host’s name after Marie said that. She was right. “What’s her problem now?” Krisha asked.
We all stopped talking when Yvonne’s microphone came on. Instead of hearing her speak, we heard sobs. She was crying. “Can...can s-someone come here?” Yvonne asked, stuttering. “Why? What’s wrong?” I sat down on my bed. I felt like it was serious. “I–I don’t know what to do anymore. I tried, I swear I tried, but I–I just couldn't do this anymore,” she said, choking her own voice in between her sobs.
“Yvonne what the hell! Just tell us what’s wrong!” Dan yelled. “Dan don’t yell!” Marie snapped. They both started arguing while Mavie was trying to stop them. Krisha went silent. I could hear Yvonne’s whispering cry. “Please...please…”
“Guys shut it,” I said, finally irritated by Dan and Marie’s arguing. “What happened, Yvonne? Just tell us,” I continued. No one answered. Yvonne’s room was dark. We couldn’t see any movements no matter how much we tried. “Yvonne?” Krisha called out. Still no answer.
Moments later, the light from Yvonne’s window became visible. “Yvonne?” Marie called. Even her didn’t receive any answer. The next thing we knew...a figure of someone...leaped through the window.
Silence. The only thing I heard. Before our voices broke it.
“YVONNE!”
I jumped up from my bed and ran to my dorm’s door. I saw the others running towards the stairs and I did the same. Yvonne’s room was on the fifth floor of our dorm building.
We stood in front of her door. None of us could open it, until a loud scream echoed throughout the campus. Then we heard a cry. An infant’s cry.
Dan opened the door, only to be greeted by the windows open, wind coming inside while the curtain was flowing with it. What caught our attention the most was that child. That child crying on Yvonne’s bed.
It dawned on us why she had to stop for a year when there’s only one year left to graduate in college.
October 17, 2021
“Mom?” I looked behind me when Yvette called out. “Yes?” I replied. She raised the locket we gave her yesterday. “Was that friend...uhm...Yvonne? Well...was she a good friend?” Yvette asked. The plate I was holding slipped from my fingers. Thankfully it was only a few inches above the sink.
“Mom?” She called out again. I snapped out of my reverie. “Yes, she was a good friend. No, a great friend, Yvette,” Marie answered for me. “She was imperfect, yes, but she always gave her best,” Mavie said. “She was kind, caring, and a loving friend,” Krisha added. “But she was hard on herself. Always solving her problems on her own,” Dan continued. “We didn’t know that she was already broken. She never asked for help,” I said, finishing our answer about her.
I had always wondered, what if we asked? Just one question. “Are you alright?” One question... and we couldn’t even ask her that. Her death was a crime. Our crime. It was also a lesson for us. A lesson we would forever keep in our hearts. If only we didn’t ignore her. If only we noticed. If only we didn’t turn our backs on her. Before it was too late. Before she broke herself even more that she couldn’t repair the pieces any longer. People would regret their choices once they meet the consequences.
“Go now, Yvette. Your friends are waiting for you. One day, you won’t have enough time to enjoy yourself. One day you’ll leave this world, so live a life you’ll remember forever.” It had been twenty-six years, yet we still couldn’t tell her that she was the daughter of an angel we once knew. The angel who finally opened her wings and found her freedom.
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